If you could only have 1 gun....
 

Ok, say the shtf..you could have your choice of ANY weapon. BUT!
ONLY ONE! You are not allowed ANY spare parts.... but any & all accesories allowed .
It will be for hunting,
protection from 2 & 4 legged varmints......in short, your survival!

What would YOU choose??
And why?
Thanx, JD.

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

An auto 22 rifle. Cheap ammo. Reaches out a considerable distance. Low noise. Compact. Shoot a goose in flight, tree rats for dinner or unload a thirty round clip on intruders.


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Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

This was a topic of great debate in the past week. Take a look back.

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

That would work east of the Mississippi, but I live in Grizzly country:afraid:

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

Just don't be a Treadwell follower and you'll be fine.


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Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

A shotgun can shoot slugs, that will discourage a bear. Then you could have chokes to kill ducks, grouse and other small game and buckshot for two legged ner-do-wells.

This is going to be a tortuous thread. Screw having only one gun. Have twenty!

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

With this essential survival tool I could work my way up the food chain and obtain whatever else I needed:

Attachment 13319

http://www.swampratknifeworks.com/knives.html#tramp

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

Treadwell:haha: no surprize ending there! Hoarder i was speculating being on the run where more than i would not be practical.

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

AR15. You can do so much with so little.

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

There's USFS all over Wyoming and you could bury them in tubes with ammo in several locations. WTSHTF roadblock confiscations might become routine, best to have a large inventory to fall back on. Might even be more valuable than silver.

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

Winchester 1200, 12 ga pump shotgun.

I've owned it since 1982, never a problem.

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

AMD 65. Hungarian AK 47. With my tactical vest holding 12 30 round mags and a bag of four 75 round drums and the rest of the 30, 20 and 10 round mags. PLUS LOADS of ammo.

And on the cover of this months "Special Weapons for Military and Police" they show the USMC is considering a new LMG. Funny, it looks almost exactly like my AMD 65.

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

22 or shoot gun.

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

I'd recommend a FN-FAL, G3/CETME, or Springfield M1A. A semiauto battle rifle in .308 will have the absolute most utility, and they are tough as hell. If you're not worried about 2 legged predators, then a shot gun would be an excellent choice. The 2 legged ones are better taken out from a distance, and I don't feel a shotgun is enough of a distance gun.

Julian

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

Wallew,thanx for the post, is that a .30 cal (7.62x39?) or their version of
.223?
As it stands now, im leaning toward a polytech legend underfolder 7.62 x 39
forged reciever:rolleyes: ....you being a gunsmith I respect your opinion,
JD.

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

With no parts for the next 100 years, a 12 gauge double barrel shotgun. I assume the question allows me to have assorted shot size, loadings and slugs.

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

yep...good choice imo....

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

Definately an AK-47. I have seen some with loads of abuse, and they just keep right on working. I would prefer the 7.62x39 version.
Turtleguy9

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

Yes it's losely considered a 30 cal.

The Ak-74 is the russian answer to the .223 (5.56x45). The AK74 is chambered in 5.45x39.

Poly's are nice (milled reciever BTW as opposed to stamped), a tad heavier than a stamped AK but sturdier... if thats actually possible.

FWIW, an AK made in some romainians garage is going to be basically just as good a weapon as the ak made in a chinese sweat shop even with the awesome QA that poly's are known for. It's an AK -hard to screw it up. Only real difference IMO is the finish. The poly will have a great one and NIB romanian will look crappy (most will anyway).

The Ak would be my second choice the H&K G3 would be my first. Near AK reliability and much more accurate. Plus it's a 7.62x51 (a 'real' 30 cal ;) ) / .308 nato that'll take .308 winchester.

Of course I'd still have my AR-7 .22lr survival rifle in my pack and beretta 92fs's strapped to me. One gun hell, thats loser talk!
:cool2:

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

I was waiting for your post..:cool2: ....

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

I won't get into arguing and chest beating about which is better or which you would be able to knock the moon out of orbit with, but I can tell you....

I have or keep
2 Egyptian Maddi AK-47 Variants in 7.62x39
2 AR-15s, both .223s and well tricked out with all Bells and whistles
1 Glock 21 .45 few internal mods (not much to a glock)
2 Ruger 10/22s Bull Barrels, Scopes, etc...
1 Remington M700 Bolt Action in .308
1 MAC-10 9mm
1 Mossberg 500 12 Ga. Short Barrel Shoty
1 Browning 12 Ga. Semi-auto (Long barrel and longer barrel)
1 Reminton .410 Pump

I stock plenty of ammo and extra magazines for each.... More than I'll ever really need hopefully....

I also, keep plenty of cleaning supplies, spare firing pins, etc just in case...

Then there are a few thow away guns that I'm not sure of their history...

I keep them all stashed in hidden Gun Vaults, so I don't have to worry about my kid accidently shooting herself or her lil friends messing with them...

From any room in the house or Garage I can get to one and be ready to aquire a target in seconds....

If I had to pick one Rifle, it'd be the AK... I think it has decent range, accuracy, knock down power and reliability...

One Pistol, it be the Glock for the same reasons as the AK...

Also, when it comes to the AK, Surplus ammo is your friend!!!!

Get to the range often and fire often... Know your weapons well...

You should be able to fire, load a mag, swap a mag, drop a mag and clear a jammed round and reload from about and position and in the dark...

Your favorite weapon will only jam, when you least want it too...

Also, learn to count your rounds as you fire and know when to swap mags...

I learned a lot of those tips in Highschool and a few years after, when I was running around and associating with a certian well know gang... Stupid I know, but I did learn a few things...

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

12 gauge Benelli - recoil operated -

M1 Super90 - few parts, flawless reliability - The same action in Super Black Eagle Benelli has been told to go hundreds of thousands of rounds in service use by shooting preserves without failure and little cleaning -

that would be my personal preference -

Can shoot slugs/00 buck for larger game and two legged varmints.

Is a favorite of a number of swat teams as an entry weapon.

What you are likely to put on the table to eat would be using #6 shot for small game.

Frankly, for most people that only want one gun for home defense and personal use, a 12 gauge remains one of the better choices

Anyone looking into the bore of a twelve gauge usually will stop in their tracks.

While you said _one_

IMHO, it would be foolish not to take a sidearm -

if limited to one - I would take a 1911 style .45 ACP with 22 LR conversion kit -

While you said no spare parts - Spring kit and trigger group would hold you for life and be small, light and cheap - Bullseye shooters have been know to put hundreds of thousands of cast lead bullets throught their barrels -

Use the 22 pistol for poaching, and smaller items where shot placement required

BTW, not what I would want to rely on for everything -

But a suppressed .22 would be high on my list also

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

I'd go with some version of the M1A. 308 will take down just about anything on the continent, and at just about any range. Gun is tough as nails. The only thing I don't like about them is the price. :eek:

But like everyone else said, one gun? :thumpdown

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

Yep,12 gauge can hunt deer,birds and any other defensive need you can have.
Shotgun all the way.

Spuds:sheep:

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

Well, only one would be a tough question to answer. Right of the bat you know it is going to be a pistol because no rifle can be carried concealed on your person with normal clothes which will be your main use of it in the real world as far as self defense goes.

Then I guess you just need to decide if you're hunting big or small game to choose your caliber.

On the subject of caliber, I have increasingly come to believe that the .22 magnum is king of survivalist calibers, having a hard punch, light weight, low cost, good penetration even against kevlar at close range, and relatively flat shooting.

I'd love to see a Walter P-22 or similar doublestack autoloader in .22mag. As it stands you can get a Grendel P-30 if you can find one, or else Taurus makes an 8 shot revolver in .22mag. That one would probably be my 1 gun choice.

The other possibility would be a North American Arms Mini Master in .22mag with the extra .22lr cylinder. The reasoning here is that although you only have 5 shots and it is single action, it is highly concealable and it still has a 4 inch barrel. That makes it more useful for carrying at work so its always with you.

Anyway, the bottom line is if you can only have 1, get a handgun. If you don't have a gun yet, get a handgun first.

Now, if I was going to pick one rifle for the rest of my life, it would be a folding stock AK in 7.62x39. I'll happily pay twenty cents a round or just reload and make better ammo. The AK doesn't require apologies. Under 200 yards it kicks butt and turns cover into concealment. 5.56 with steel penetrator does great against thin sheets of steel, not so good trough layered barriers like car bodies, heavy vegetation, drywall, etc. That x39 will bore straight through common ubran and wildnerness environmental variables and keep going.

Or maybe it would be a lightweight .22lr or .22mag rifle to go with the pistol. People have successfully fired lr in a mag without blowing themselves up and these days there are .22lr rifles that can swap barrels to .22mag.

If you have a .22lr I would reccomend checking out Aguilla Supermax for rifles and CCI Velocitors for either pistols or rifles. These loads have some unique properties. Quickshock is good stuff, too.

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

Dude, without a second thought, my M1A .308. The .308 has no competition when it comes to long range "pick off" accuracy, just ask the police snipers, and military for that matter.

The .308 is unsurpassed, and the M1A is also battle proven. The Ar-15 is nice, but the rounds are to light, for the most part.

Of course there is always the matter of, "oops, I think there is someone in my house". In that case, the stealthier usually wins... doesnt matter what cal is used. The first shot is always the loudest, and if someone is intruding, they will be the first to run and hide because they don't know the lay-out of the land.

You can just shoot in the air, and when they go running, pick them off like duck in a mild winter.

Depending on which state you live in. Here in TX, it is legal to shoot someone who is trespassing, not so sure in other states.

Keep hearing about people shooting someone with their TV in their arms, and living to sue... "If the South would have won"...

Shoot to kill, in every matter, ask questions latter... if you are smart.:censored:

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

12 gauge shotgun with plenty of buckshot.

I've also got a Ruger P95 9mm... 15 rounds, ammo is cheap

And I've got a .22lr rifle.. because the ammo is dirt cheap and I've got a clip that holds 30 rounds.

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

It's thirty cal. And proven in the field for two years by a buddy of mine. He HIGHLY recommend it. Used an AKS for a while then when he could FINALLY get his hands on one. Here is where I got mine from...

http://www.atlanticfirearms.com/prog...d.asp?Prodid=6

And OF COURSE, the ubiquitous Remington 700 in .308 with a heavy barrel and tons of ammo for it. This is my 'reach out and touch someone' rifle. Out to about five hundred yards. The AK47 is for more intermediate ranges out to about 200 yards. Inside 50 yards, there are shotguns and pistols.

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

If only one gun allowed, then probably a 12 gauge pump shotgun, they can do it all.

For a handgun I would choose a Glock 17 or 19 in 9mm. You can buy 33 round magazines for $25. This will be my next gun purchase!

I have a Ruger 10/22 rifle with a Simmons 22 MAG scope, nice to have for shooting small game.

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

I guess if the chinese are coming, i'll go ak-47...7.62x39:cool2:
there will be PLENTY of ammo lyin around....

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

AR-15 (any of the variants) in .223 carbine.

Not only is a geat all-around gun, but in short order I could use it to have the guns of a lot of my enemies.

You said we had to pick one gun, not that we couldn't use it to get others!:wavey:

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

.308 Caliber GREEN STOCK order no. 10TN BLACK STOCK order no. 10TBN

Re: If you could only have 1 gun....
 

A shotgun. Even my wife can't miss with one of those.:wink: